Looking Forward to Our July Wedding by Dora Bramden

As our RTG topic is AWedding Story, how could I resist talking about my own wedding that happening exactly one month and one day from now? It’s been a very busy time, organizing our special day but as a mature age couple, we are able to plan it together and have it exactly as we want. Our day will reflect who Sam and I are now in our choice of the celebrant, songs that will be played and the words we will say.  Also, Sam’s daughter and my son and daughter are going to be sharing a reading during the service. I’m so happy they are going to do this. It feels so right to have a celebration of the family we are uniting.

Visits to our marriage celebrant, Rev. Ric Holland involves an hour-long drive to the very beautiful town of Emerald. We meet at about 11 am so that afterward we can go and have lunch somewhere nice. Our second meeting was two weeks ago, we went over the order of service and chose our readings and enjoyed getting to know Rev Ric a little better.  He also recommended a restaurant in Emerald for lunch called Elevation. It was gorgeous with views of hills and we were seated next to a wood fire. There were many Gluten free options on the menu so I got to order what I liked. We had a beautiful lunch together and enjoyed a glass of wine followed by driving home through the Yarra Valley. Delightful.

Before we met Sam and I have been through a lot of struggle in our lives but feel we have found a safe haven in love and caring we have for each other. In the first two years of being together, we had a ball, going out and enjoying life, then tragedy stuck when Sam’s mum died. It brought us closer together as I stayed at his side through this. Then less than a year later, my mum passed away also. Sam was by my side for all of it. Each of us agrees that our Mum’s were able to go, knowing we had found the person who would love and take care of us.

Last October Sam proposed. I love he did it then because both our Mum’s birthdays are in October. We began to make plans for our ceremony and reception knowing that our wedding day should be a celebration of how grateful we are to have found a deep, abiding love and our joy in the prospect of spending the rest of our lives together.

At our first meeting with Rev. Ric, he suggested we might like a singer at our ceremony. Sam loved this idea so I went online and found a beautiful singer, Sharon Crossman. From her song list, we were able to find songs that represented how we feel about each other. As I’m walking down the aisle in the little the chapel we have hired, Sharon will be singing ‘There You Are’ It sums up how Sam and I are there for each other. Later when we’re signing the register she’ll be singing ‘Bless the Broken Road’ which acknowledges that all our struggles in the past are part of the road that led us to each other. and ‘I believe in you and Me’ a sweet song from Whitney Huston.

As we and the guests are leaving the chapel Sharon will sing ‘From this Moment’ by Shania Twain and ‘Feels Like Home to Me’ by Chantal Kreviazuk. It took a long time to choose these songs but we did it together and they are perfect for the mood we wish to create.

So you can picture how it will be I’ll share what we are wearing. The color scheme for the wedding is navy and blush pink. Sam and his groomsmen will be wearing navy suits, white shirts, and blush pink ties. My two bridesmaids will be in navy lace and chiffon cocktail length dresses and they’ll be holding pink floral bouquets. I’m going full-on bride with a long almond ivory gown. The bodice is lace with little bits tailing down onto a full tulle skirt. In my hair, I’ll be wearing a gold wired hair band that is studded with crystals and tiny pearls.

Today I have the hair and makeup artist coming to my house for a trial run and I’m very excited to see what we will come up with. At first, I was very nervous about getting married and all the attention it will bring, but now I’m really looking forward to a very special day and just enjoying all the lovely things that will be happening, and having a very romantic ceremony as Sam and I pledge our love, together with our family and friends.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

www.dorabramden.com

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